Stories tagged with: puerto rico

• Puerto Rico missionary's relief aid opens hearts

  by Brandon Elrod, posted Monday, November 27, 2017 (6 years ago)

  

  Photo from Facebook

  COMERÍO, Puerto Rico (BP) -- Even in the aftermath of Puerto Rico's devastation from Hurricane Maria, church planting missionary Jorge Santiago has been experiencing the truth of Romans 8:28 that all things can work together for good.

  In July, Santiago and his wife Rebeca moved to Puerto Rico with their two children, Sebastian and Sophia, to serve as North American Mission Board church planting missionaries in Comerío, a municipality of 20,000 about 30 miles south of San Juan.

  "Right after the storm," Santiago said, "we just focused on helping people. We started looking for resources, food and water so that we could take it to Comerío." Read More

• Puerto Rico relief needs ongoing volunteers, funding

  by Brandon Elrod, posted Wednesday, November 15, 2017 (6 years ago)

  

  Photo courtesy of Sam Porter/NAMB

  SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (BP) -- Southern Baptists continue to serve Puerto Rico's residents after Hurricane Maria's devastation in September, creating a nationwide response from the ground up.

  Sam Porter, national director for disaster relief for the North American Mission Board, has spent several days in Puerto Rico in two separate trips to assist disaster response coordinator Jack Noble in facilitating the large-scale response by Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) and Send Relief. Read More

• Puerto Rican pastors 'not forgotten' by SBC

  by Diana Chandler, posted Tuesday, November 14, 2017 (6 years ago)

  

  Photo by Bobby Sena

  SAN JUAN, P.R. (BP) -- The "heart and spirit of Southern Baptists" are evident as churches and leaders help Puerto Rico recover after Hurricane Maria, pastor Jorge Alvarez said Nov. 11 in San Juan.

  Alvarez, executive director of the Convention of Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands, was among 150 local pastors and guests who attended an appreciation dinner held in their honor. The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee and the North American Mission Board sponsored the event. The Hispanic Baptist Pastors Alliance (HBPA) and LifeWay Christian Resources also supported the event, held at the Sheraton Old San Juan Hotel. Read More

• Puerto Rico DR efforts advanced by Texas volunteers

  by Jane Rodgers/Southern Baptist TEXAN, posted Friday, November 03, 2017 (6 years ago)

  

  Southern Baptist TEXAN photo

  GUAYNABO, Puerto Rico (BP) -- Flooded streets, potable water shortages, communications disruptions, power outages and six-foot-long iguanas were among the obstacles encountered by eight Southern Baptists of Texas Convention volunteers in completing initial projects to facilitate Southern Baptist Disaster Relief efforts in Puerto Rico following hurricanes Irma and Maria.

  The SBTC team deployed Oct. 15-23, responding to SBDR national director Sam Porter's request to establish a communications center at the Seminario Teologico Bautista in Guaynabo, southeast of San Juan. Read More

• Send Relief 'pastor packs,' SBDR help Puerto Rico

  by Brandon Elrod, posted Friday, October 20, 2017 (6 years ago)

  

  Photo courtesy of Sam Porter

  SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (BP) -- When people started showing up seeking food and water after Hurricane Maria, pastor Johnny Baez knew he couldn't just sit back and do nothing.

  "People around my church started asking me for water to drink and food to eat," said Baez, who serves at Iglesia Bautista Familia Santurce (Baptist Church of the Family Santurce) in San Juan, Puerto Rico. "So, I asked pastor friends for a [water] filter, and they let me use one. I asked another pastor for a gas stove and another pastor for a gas tank. Now we are cooking Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday." Read More

• Puerto Rico DR response requiring rigorous logistics

  by Brandon Elrod, posted Friday, October 13, 2017 (6 years ago)

  

  Photo by Puerto Rico National Guard

  SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (BP) -- Three weeks after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, Sam Porter estimates that one-third of the island has yet to receive much care or help.

  Porter, the North American Mission Board's national director for disaster relief, has been in Puerto Rico since Sunday, Oct. 8.

  He is working there with Jack Noble, a retired disaster relief director from the SBC of Virginia, and David Melber, NAMB's president of Send Relief, to coordinate a plan to deliver help and hope to the people of Puerto Rico. Read More

• San Juan pastor serves meals, Gospel after Maria

  by Diana Chandler, posted Monday, October 09, 2017 (6 years ago)

  

  Submitted photo.

  SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (BP) -- Hungry and thirsty two weeks after Hurricane Maria decimated Puerto Rico, the teenage girl approached as Southern Baptist church planter Johnny Baez was serving beans, rice and filtered water.

  "I'm hungry and I don't have nothing at home," she told Baez, "and I just start walking to see if I find something to eat."

  Baez shared the girl's story with Baptist Press by telephone Oct. 6, recounting... Read More

• More volunteer doors opening in Puerto Rico

  by Brandon Elrod, posted Friday, October 06, 2017 (6 years ago)

  

  Photo by Bradley Williams, lead pastor of Grace Church PR

  PUERTO RICO (BP) -- This weekend, nearly 70 Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) volunteers will begin arriving in Puerto Rico to aid in recovery efforts on the island.

  Sam Porter, the North American Mission Board's (NAMB) national director for disaster relief, will reach Puerto Rico on Sunday, Oct. 8 to further develop plans for serving those affected by Hurricane Maria.

  Teams from North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia will be joined by individuals and smaller groups from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, New York and Vermont. Conditions for the volunteers will be rough, and they will be prepared to serve whatever needs await them. Read More

• Green light given for Puerto Rico as FL, TX relief persists

  by Brandon Elrod, posted Friday, September 29, 2017 (6 years ago)

  

  Screen capture from CNN

  ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) -- The North American Mission Board's Send Relief ministry has been asked to manage the disaster response on behalf of the Convention of Southern Baptist Churches in Puerto Rico.

  "We have officially requested Send Relief to coordinate the disaster relief response in Puerto Rico," said Jorge Alvarez, who leads the Puerto Rican convention. "The needs here are unprecedented, and we need our entire Southern Baptist family to help Puerto Rico during this tragic time." Read More

• Puerto Rico churches doing best to help, NAMB catalyst says

  by Diana Chandler, posted Thursday, September 28, 2017 (6 years ago)

  

  Screen capture from MSNBC

  PUERTO RICO (BP) -- More than a week after Puerto Rico suffered its greatest natural disaster, the condition of most of the Southern Baptist churches on the island is still unknown, a church planting catalyst on the island told Baptist Press.

  But the 12 churches Carlos Rodriguez has been able to contact are doing all they can to help survivors of hurricanes Irma and Maria, he said in a telephone interview Sept. 27. Rodriguez had been unable to contact the remaining 75 or so Southern Baptist churches on the island because of damaged infrastructure and communication services, he said. Read More